• ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    DISORIENTATION by Elaine Hsieh Chou | ARC Review

    23rd March 2022
    Cover of Disorientation (Elaine Hsieh Chou)

    DISORIENTATION by Elaine Hsieh Chou

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    Disorientation follows a 29-year-old Taiwanese American PhD student Ingrid Yang (cishet) as she works on her dissertation on Xiao-Wen Chou, a fictional “Asian American” icon. Ingrid starts out as someone who is ignorant on the subject of racism and other social justice issues, which is the realm of her nemesis and fellow graduate student Vivian Vo (sapphic, Vietnamese American). Throughout her research, Ingrid finds substantial dirt on Xiao-Wen Chou, and it becomes the start of her journey of unlearning as well as sets off catastrophic events in Barnes University.

    Read More
  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    The Tangleroot Palace by Marjorie Liu | ARC Review

    15th June 2021
    Cover of The Tangleroot Palace (Marjorie Liu)

    The Tangleroot Palace by Marjorie Liu

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    The Tangleroot Palace contains six short stories (“Sympathy for the Bones,” “The Briar and the Rose,” “Call Her Savage,” “The Last Dignity of Man,” “Where the Heart Lives,” “After the Blood”) and one novella (“Tangleroot Palace”), all of which are fantasy with hints of horror and gorgeously written. At the end of each story, there is also brief commentary by Liu, providing some background and thematic connections between the stories.

    I adore the writing, which flowed beautifully, and I love how effortlessly detailed each sentence is. Fantasy short stories are extremely difficult to pull off, given the need to provide enough world building and plot within the limited word count, and Liu delivered not one but six satisfying stories.

    Read More